Portable 12 volt Deep Cycle Charger Question

[rcguy]

Hi all,

Looking for recommendations on a good 12 volt portable deep cycle charger.

I don't think my current Sears deep cycle charger is fully charging my new Walmart 125 amp hour deep cycle battery. After an overnight charge my voltmeter is reading only 12 volts. I understand it should be somewhere between 12.7 - 12.9 volts on a new battery.

What do you think? Could it be a faulty charger and not a faulty battery? I just purchased this new battery due to the old one not testing above 12 volts after a overnight charge and now I'm thinking I may have just bought a new battery when the old one wasn't bad.

Thanks for your input,

rcguy.

[out_fisherman]

Borrow a friends charger and see if it charges the

battery higher. Most everybody has one. I just bought

a new one for my boat as well....and it would not

charge above 12.7.....I almost took it back, until I

checked the batteries on both of my trucks, which were

at 12.6 & 12.7 each. I always thought 13.2V was the

ideal target - as my Vexilar battery charges to.

I dunno - maybe batteries have changed - but my meter hasn't.

In theory, each cell of a lead-acid battery should produce

2.2v, X6 = 13.2. I also checked my fish house battery last

year before I put the house on the ice - it said 13.1,

but it is constantly on a solar-charger to keep it at peak.

Again, try another charger.

[Big Buck Buster]

12.6v-12.8v is fully charged auto battery, and 13.1v-13.4v is fully charged for deep cycle. These are after the surface charge has been taken off.

[Whoaru99]

I'd do two things...

Check my multimeter on something else you're relatively sure has a good, fully charged battery and see if it gives a more correct reading.

Measure the output of the charger, if you can. Some automatic chargers may not have the charging voltage on the leads though if not sensing voltage of a battery.

Is the 12V with the charger connected to the battery and showing a charge rate?

What is the amp setting you're using on the charger? If it's something like a 2A rate, it can take a long time to fully charge a high capacity battery.

[rcguy]

Thanks for the responses all,

I found out it was my voltmeter of all things. The meter reads low. I tested my deep cycle battery on another voltmeter and it showed 12.9 volts after a full charge. My volt meter only shows 12.0 volts.

Guess it's time for a new voltmeter.

rcguy.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Don't expect great things out of the everstart walmart brand batteries. I was lucky to get a summer out of them (If I used it once a week I was lucky). Keep your receipt because you'll be replacing it or buying a new one every year.

[crappieking54]

I had the same problem with Walmart batteries... keep the receipt!!